Rick Roufus
Rick Roufus (born June 3, 1966) is an American Professional kickboxer, fighting out of Roufus Kickboxing Centre in Tempe, Arizona. He is one of the most famous kickboxers in USA. Outline Roufus, nicknamed The Jet, has been a six time full contact kick-boxing world champion winning two different weightclass titles under the IKF. In the early 1990s, he announced he would change profession and turn to conventional boxing instead. He enjoyed some success as a boxer, winning the WBC's Continental Americas Cruiserweight title. He was never able to fight for a world championship as a conventional boxer however, and returned to kickboxing in the late 1990s. Roufus lost his ISKA. Full Contact World Light Heavyweight title by 11th round KO in the rematch to Ernesto Hoost in 1994. He added the K-1's U.S. championship to his six world titles in 1998. He holds a record of 63 wins and 9 losses, with 43 wins by knockout. Most recently defeated Mehrdad Khan Moayedi by TKO in the 3rd round on 3.4.2006. Biography Early life Rick Roufus was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States of America, June 3, 1966. He started learning karate from his father who had learned taekwondo. Early career After he won some national titles of karate as amateur career, he debuted as a professional kickboxer. In the beginning of his career, he fought under the rule of Full contact where leg kicks, elbow strikes, and knee attacks were not allowed. In January 1986, Roufus fought against Sylvester Cash for American national title of PKC at middleweight. He won this fight, and he got his first title. In April 1987, he fought against John Moncayo for the world title of KICK at super middleweight. KICK means "Karate International Council of Kickboxing". Roufus knocked out Moncayo at 7R, and he won his first world title in his career. In November 1988, he fought against Changpuek Kiatsongrit from Thailand. This was the first time for Roufus to fight under the ordinary kickboxing rule which allows leg kicks. At 1R, Roufus knocked down Changpuek twice with punches, but his legs started being damaged by Changpuek's kicks. As time goes on, Roufus started running away from Changpuek because of pain. At 4R, Roufus couldn't continue to fight because his legs were damaged heavily as Changpuek kept kicking them, and the referee stopped the bout when he fell down on the canvas. His both legs were broken and he needed time to come back. In August 1989, he fought against Marek Piotrowski from Poland to defend his national title, but he lost by unanimous decision at the end of 10R, and failed to retain his title. In April 1990, he had his first professional boxing match and fought against Ricardo Dabney, but he lost by decision at the end of 4R. In January 1994, Roufus fought against Michael McDonald from Canada for the vacant title of IKF Professional Full contact at light heavyweight. He knocked out McDonald in 43 seconds at 1R, and he became the first world champion of IKF Full contact rule at light heavyweight. Roufus shifted his focus to professional boxing again in 1995. After five consecutive wins, he drew with journeyman Louis Monaco in January 1996. In August, he challenged the vacant title of WBC Continental Americas at cruiserweight. He knocked out Sean McClain at 4R, and won his first and only title in boxing. In February 1997, he fought against Arthur Williams who became IBF world cruiserweight champion later for the vacant title of USBA at cruiserweight, but he was knocked out at 4R and failed to win his another title in boxing. In 1998, Roufus was sanctioned as the first world champion of IKF Professional International rule at heavyweight as he requested to shift his title and he met IKF's conditions. In addition, Roufus got his first daughter in this year. In May 1999, Roufus fought against Stan Longinidis from Australia to defend his IKF title. At the end of 9R, Longinidis suffered a broken bone in his foot so this bout was put into judges' decision. Consequently, Roufus was ahead on all 3 judges cards at the time, 89-81, 86-83 and 88-81, and he retained his title. In November 2001, Roufus had a boxing match and fought against Dale Brown who was the North American and Canadian national champion, but he was knocked out at 9R, and this was his last match in boxing. 5-3-2002 in his rematch with Michael McDonald he tore his ACL (Knee). However, Roufus came back to fight, and defeat Maurice Smith, a year later. On September 29, 2003 Roufus Officially announced his retirement to IKF and returned IKF his title, but he continued to fight in K-1 and MMA. Shifting to MMA Roufus, was to make his MMA debut against former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Kerr at a WCO event in San Diego, California on January 12, 2008 at the San Diego Sports Arena, but was denied his application by the California State Athletic Commission. In his MMA debut, Roufus lost to former UFC heavyweight champion Maurice Smith in the first round via kimura at the Strikeforce: At The Dome event in Tacoma, Washington on February 23, 2008 at the Tacoma Dome.Strikeforce - Strikeforce At The Dome: Sapp Returns, Smith Battles Roufus On March 29, 2008, Roufus had his second MMA bout, this time in Newkirk, Oklahoma for Caged Combat Championship Fights'(CCCF) "Battle on the Border" event. Roufus defeated Mike Buell via unanimous decision. Since then he has won two more fights against BJ Lacy and Roberto Martinez bringing his mixed martial arts record to 3 wins with 1 loss.http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=27343 Rick Roufus will be fighting former professional boxer Jeremy Williams. Records Legend: |} Titles *Kickboxing **PKC US Middleweight Champion (Defense: 0) **KICK World Super Middleweight Champion (Defense: ?) **FFKA World Super Middleweight Champion (Defense: ?) **FFKA World Light Heavyweight Champion (Defense: ?) **ISKA Full contact World Light heavyweight Champion (Defense: 2) **PKC World Light heavyweight Champion (Defense: 2) **IKF Full contact World Light Heavyweight Champion (Defense: 0) **ISKA Full contact World Heavyweight Champion (Defense: ?) **IKF International World Heavyweight Champion (Defense: 1) **K-1 USA Grand Prix '98 Winner (August 7, 1998) **K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Preliminary USA Runner up (May 3, 2002) **K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Las Vegas Runner up (May 2, 2003) *Boxing **8-10-1996 WBC Continental Americas Cruiserweight Champion TKO Round 4 Sean McClain Las Vegas, NV References External links * *Rick Roufus on Myspace Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:People from Milwaukee, Wisconsin Category:American kickboxers Category:American mixed martial artists fr:Rick Roufus ja:リック・ルーファス